Chaos Carrier With A Broken Talent-Chapter 37: Thunder of Four Howls

To obtain the Element Spark, a Carrier had to kill a creature with the suitable element. This meant that in most cases, there were many options.

Only if the Carrier had a truly rare element would there be limitations in the choice.

If Ethan had to find a creature with chaos, he would be one of those Carriers, but he had another option: darkness. As became clear from his trip to Louis’s shop with Menir, darkness was not nearly as common as fire, but still not as rare as chaos.

Ethan had enough options to give the fragments a variety of choices. They led him to the Desolate Meadow not because it was the only place to find a creature with the darkness element, no, even in Orsire City, there were more than enough.

It just happened to be the fastest and most efficient option for him. The quality of the Element Spark wasn’t crucial, but it wasn’t unimportant either. It affected the strength of the First Ring and the speed of the Circle’s rotation after evolution. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

In other words, it was not a coincidence or a failure that Ethan arrived at the Desolate Meadow right at the beginning of the Thunder of Four Howls.

It was part of the original plan.

If the Thunder of Four Howls was supposed to happen a month later, the fragments would guide Ethan to another, more convenient location.

This was the essence of the Construct. The gears revolved in a constant attempt to find solutions, whether it was absorbing energy or searching for resources such as the Element Spark.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

One by one, stone coffins emerged from the ground. A bolt of lightning struck one of the four pillars, triggering the trial.

Time was running out, critically so.

"Alright, tell me what we have to do because I don’t understand a damn thing!" Ethan gritted his teeth.

Klaus tilted his head. "What? Then why did you come here? Don’t you know anything about the Lost Knight?"

"L-Lost Knight? Who is that... Some kind of Carrier?"

The only association Ethan had was Black Horn, as everyone referred to him by his title rather than his name.

"Damn, you really don’t know. Everyone comes here at the Thunder of Four Howls for the sole purpose of fighting him! Especially Carriers like me, from the Hail of Swords!"

Ethan tried to remember what the fragments showed him, but saw nothing but a blurry silhouette.

’Alright, let’s try my luck.’

"How often does this happen? Judging by the look on your face, you’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time, well..." Ethan glanced in the direction from which the arrow had come. "You’re not the only one. It seems like everyone except me."

In response, Klaus pointed upward, directly at the moon.

"Every fourth full moon. When the moon is especially bright. It’s not always a guarantee that the Thunder of Four Howls will happen, but if the sky is covered with clouds, it means it’s coming."

’Shit...’

A lot of things hit Ethan at once, but he had a rough idea of the situation he was in.

’I don’t know what will happen next, but one thing is clear: if I want to find my Element Spark, I must continue to participate in this event.’

At the same moment, light burst from the coffins as the lids flew off.

Along with the dark smoke, figures in rattling armor emerged. There were no evil eyes or eerie auras, only their thin bodies, mist, and swords at their waists in heavy, stone scabbards.

’I see. If the Lost Knight is the strongest monster, then it’s no surprise that Klaus and possibly others from the Hail of Swords have come here. For them, there is nothing more important than defeating a stronger swordsman. Tsk, scary people.’

Klaus gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, ready to rush into battle.

Each of the Grim Soldiers was a Bronze Tier Monster, possessing the same strength as the Crooked Growon. However, there were many more of them, dozens, and their mastery was far superior. This was evident simply from their postures.

"Hey, Ethan. I know I attacked you first, but we can still work as a team."

Ethan was surprised that such an offer came, but he was in no position to refuse. Unlike Klaus, he knew nothing about the Lost Knight or Thunder of Four Howls.

"Well, everyone makes mistakes." He shrugged. "What should we do? Kill these soldiers?"

"Yes, there are two of us, so we need to get eight grim shards."

"The grim shards?"

Klaus nodded, watching intently as the Grim Soldiers spread out across the field. No one has attacked them yet, but soon this fragile peace will collapse because their time is running out.

"We need them to defend ourselves."

From what?

Ethan wanted to ask, but Klaus beat him to it.

"Four pillars, and four strikes of thunder, or howls, as they are called. We’ve already seen the first one, the weakest and most harmless if you’re far from the pillars, but all the ones after that will be much more dangerous. The only way to survive is to gather enough shards to withstand the thunder strike."

"Why not just leave the field?" Ethan asked.

Klaus shook his head.

"Without the previous shards, the new ones won’t be strong enough. Everything must be done in sequence, just like the strikes of thunder. And... the black fog won’t let us leave."

Crack.

Arrows whizzed over the tall grass, the same one that had tried to kill Ethan. The sharp tip was aimed straight at the standing Grim Soldier.

Then, the Grim Soldier abruptly pulled his sword from its sheath as the stone blade cut the arrow in two. It wasn’t as skillful as Klaus made it look, but it was impressive for a Bronze Tier Monster.

’Hell, any one of them could defeat the Crooked Growon.’ Ethan gripped the hilt tightly. ’Getting the Element Spark is going to be harder than I expected.’

Klaus stepped forward.

"Are you ready? The storm is getting worse."

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ethan stood beside him as a gleam flashed across the crimson blade of his dagger.

"Sure, now that I’m here, I can’t just leave without facing the Lost Knight."